Thursday, January 19, 2012

Gov. Cuomo had a warning for “wise guys” who might look for a cut of New York’s legal gambling action — stay out!
And to make sure that the state’s growing gambling industry remains on the straight and narrow, he envisions a Nevada-style state gambling commission that would regulate New York casino gambling, which he hopes lawmakers and state voters approve by late next year.
“Sell the rights, maximize your profits, regulate it, make sure no wise guys get involved,” Cuomo said during a meeting with The Post’s editorial board.
“If it were up to me, I would put together a gaming board like Nevada — former FBI, former CIA . . . strict regulations, public bids, open the envelopes,” said Cuomo, who in his budget proposal this week called for merging the Lottery Division and the Racing and Wagering Board into a single oversight agency.

NO ‘MADE’ SERVICE: The state’s priority while adding casinos like Empire City in Yonkers is to keep mob influence out, says Gov. Cuomo.

“These franchises are going to be worth multiples of millions,” Cuomo said of New York gaming enterprises. “I would want to be 100 miles away from the selection. I wouldn’t want to have anything to do with anything.”
New York State Gaming Association president James Featherstonhaugh agreed strict regulation is key.
“That helps you with your customers, because they know you’re legit,” said Featherstonhaugh, whose group represents the state’s nine racinos.
Cuomo acknowledged that casinos could bring increases in crime, domestic violence and other societal ills — and he didn’t dispute the idea that gambling equates to a regressive tax.
“I have never been pro-casino gaming,” he said. “I understand the mixed bag.”
But with racinos and upstate Indian-run casinos, “we have 29,000 gambling machines — more than Atlantic City,” he said.
“You are in the gambling business. You don’t make the money from it you should be making. You don’t regulate it the way you should regulate it. But you are full in the gambling business.”
Cuomo is pushing legalization of casino gambling through a constitutional amendment that would need approval by two separately elected state legislatures before going to voters.
Cuomo is supporting Aqueduct racino operator Genting’s plan to spend $4 billion to build the nation’s biggest convention center adjacent to the Queens racetrack in exchange for state approval to expand racinos run by the Malaysian-based gaming giant.